
“But to expand our audience, we started playing Top 40 songs and developed our live set into more of an entertaining show, as opposed to just musicians standing on a stage.” “We’d been playing an intricate jazz/fusion kind of music,” he said of his pre-Dazz days. Bobby Harris, the singer and saxman who led the Dazz Band, continued the tradition, gigging at Leo’s behind Lou Rawls in the 1970s, then forming the first group of musicians through which he gained experience, an audience and, eventually, chart success. SONGWRITERS: Reggie Andrews, Leon “Ndugu” ChanclerīACKSTORY: Leo’s Casino in Cleveland was a music venue with strong links to any number of top Motown artists who performed there during the 1960s. This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.DAY & DATE: Number One on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart in the week ending Saturday, May 29, 1982. Although this song may be said to refer to dancing, it actually refers to another type of movement that is done with zest and vigor. The singer is telling the woman he chose to move her body fast, side to side or up and down like a whip all night. The word "it" in this song refers to a person's body, and specifically a person's butt. It would go on to win a Grammy the following year." It was at number one on the R&B chart for five non-consecutive weeks. " ‘Let It Whip’ was Dazz Band’s biggest hit.

That page also includes this information: Members of the Grammy Award Winning Dazz Band included: Sennie "Skip" Martin, Pierre DeMudd, Bobby Harris, Eric Fearman, Kenny Pettus, Steve Cox, Keith Harrison, Michael Wiley & Isaac Wiley. 1 on the R&B charts, and achieved a Grammy Award and continues in recurring radio and Sirius XM rotation.

The Dazz Band's breakthrough came with the hit "Let It Whip" written and produced by Reggie Andrews off of the Keep It Live (1982) album. The name of the band is a portmanteau of the description "danceable jazz". Emerging from Cleveland, Ohio, the group's biggest hit songs include the Grammy Award-winning "Let It Whip" (1982), "Joystick" (1983), and "Let It All Blow" (1984). "The Dazz Band is an American R&B, funk band whose popularity exploded in the early 1980s. SHOWCASE VIDEO: The Dazz Band "Let It Whip" Our history is waaay more than that, and we are making history every day. Too often people think that the only way of celebrating Black history is to talk about slavery or the civil rights movement in the United States. (As for me, I celebrate Black history and Black culture all year long.)
Genre dazz band let it whip series#
That said, sharing information about and examples of The Dazz Band's now iconic 1982 Funk song "Let It Whip", the television series Soul Train & the Soul Train line, and Michael Jackson's 1982 Beat It song, is one way of honoring Black history in the month of February that United States annually designates as "Black history month". But the two words sound almost the same and are spelled almost the same. Yes, I know- the word "whip" doesn't have the same pronunciation and meaning as the word "rip". The Daz Band's song "Let It Whip" came to my mind as a result of United States' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up her copy of Donald Trump's State Of The Union address. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher for sharing this video on YouTube. Thanks to The Dazz Band for their musical legacy. The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. Part III showcases The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip" and Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and includes comments about how the beginning of each record sounds the same.

Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are also included in this post.Ĭlick for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part II provides information about the television show Soul Train and showcases a YouTube video of the Soul Train line dancing to "Let It Whip".

Lyrics for this song are also included in this post.Ĭlick for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part I provides information about The Dazz Band and showcases a YouTube video of The Dazz Band performing their hit song "Let It Whip". This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series that showcases the 1982 Funk song "Let It Whip" by The Dazz Band.
